I found an interesting loco on ebay that is advertised as being Atlas/Kato in HO scale. I’ve never owned anything from Kato and hadn’t heard they had partnered with Atlas. Does anyone know why it might have been described this way?
There’s only 3 hours left on the auction and there are 0 bids which is not surprising since the minimum price is about $30 more than the bid price for similar locos being described as just Atlas.
I have a Atlas loco with a Kato drive and motor you will like it it is worth it.
Kato of Japan made the early Atlas yellow-box locos. The black box “Classic Series” later were made in China. Both good. I love all my Atlas Katos. Get it if you can.
-Matt
I fired off my first reply quickly because I didn’t know how long was left on the auction. Then I went and looked. If it’s the Pennsy RS-1 No. 9914, I think it looks like a charmer and if you want that loco, I’d say the price is about right, especially since there’s free shipping.
I have found Yellow Box Atlases (“Atlantes”, to be grammatically correct) for less than this, but only at swap meets. My first one cost $20 because the shell wouldn’t snap down tight and the guy wanted to be rid of it. It is the quietest and smoothest engine I have. I can’t hear it at all when it’s running.
I hope you have a good experience with it if you buy.
-Matt
Atlas locomotive with the reliable and well built Kato mechanism. It will be in an Atlas box and probably not say Kato on the packaging anywhere. Sellers make this known because they are desireable.
Good stuff.
-Kevin
Crossdog is correct about the loco I was looking at. I wasn’t aware that Altas used Kato mechanisms but I’m guessing that is true of all the Atlas RS-1s being offered on ebay and since the asking price for this one is considerably more than what is being bid on other RS-1s, it doesn’t seem like such a good buy, even with the free shipping.
I’ve bought several Atlas RS-1s and repainted them for my own road and converted them to DCC. I’m thinking of getting another which is why I was browsing ebay. The one advantage the one in question has is that it is lettered for the Pennsy and I do run Pennsy equipment on my road. I could get this one and only have to add the decoder and sound but I’m not sure that’s worth paying $30 more.
Going back to my DC days back in the 1970s and beyond, I had two Atlas locos and they were by far the smoothest runners on my roster. I’ve converted several RS-1s and RS-3s for my present layout. The cost of new Atlas Alcos with factory DCC and sound is prohibitive.
Until a few years ago, I had never heard of a Kato built Atlas. Then, at a train show, I found a guy with a table full of such locos for $10 apiece. I purchased two of these locos and have been kicking myself ever since for not buying everything on the table! These are some of the sweetest running locos I own.
I wouldn’t part with mine.
Cheers, the Bear.[:)]
I don’t believe the newer Classic Atlas locomotives are outfitted with Kato motors. Nonetheless, they run VERY smoothly. I have a Classic Atlas undecorated RS-1 and it’s a sweet runner.
Tom
You’re a braver person to risk an e-bay purchase on a loco.
I am probably mistaken, but didn’t those early units have Kato marked on the bottom of the truck assembly?
Not really. I’ve bought roughly a dozen ebay locos and only got one lemon and I figure the money I saved by buying used locos easily made up for that one lemon. Most ebay sellers I’ve dealt with are honorable people but there are a small number who are not and one has to factor that in when choosing to buy online. I don’t think the risk is any greater than buying at a train show.
I like to buy used DC locos on the cheap and modify them with my own paint scheme and decals and convert them to DCC with sound. It’s much cheaper than buying new factory DCC locos, especially at today’s prices.
Well, somebody bought it. Was that not you, John?
Tom, yes, I wasn’t very clear, sorry. The yellow-box Atlas locos have the Kato mechanism, made in Japan. And yes, it says Atlas Kato right on the bottom, as well as “Made in Japan”. The black-box Classic Series Atlas locos were made in China, but I don’t know who made the mechanism for those. Not Kato, I think. They are still very good.
There were also some very early Atlas yellow-box locos made by Roco of Austria. They don’t say Kato on the bottom; they say Made in Austria. The Kato drives are in my opinion the best.
-Matt
Matt is correct in saying the Austria made Atlas models are not Kato drives. They are solid mechanisms, though. Not as quiet as the Katos, though, a bit of an Athesrn growl. Dan
Yes, just like Stewart/Kato locomotives. The only place the Kato logo appeared was on the lower truck gear covers.
My only Atlas/Roco (Austria) locomotive is an S-Series switcher. It runs just as well as the Kato driven locomotives I have. I do not have any experience with other Atlas/Roco locomotives.
-Kevin
They have Japan (yellow box) on the box, and Japan on the bottom of the trucks.
I have 2, and that’s how they are marked, both RS1’s.
Most Ebay sellers of yellow box Atlas locos, know what they have, but not all.
The trick is to get the seller to show all sides of the box, and a clear bottom view of the trucks.
Mike.
I generally avoid buying ANY loco from any source if the loco appears truely “used”, as in actually having measureable hours on a layout.
BUT, I have bought several dozen locos on Ebay that were clearly “New Old Stock”, with very few issues.
The irony here is what few problems I have encountered were generally from BIG sellers like TRAINZ, not from small shops or individuals.
And just to be clear about Atlas locos - they did not “use” a Kato drive, Kato built the whole locomotive. All early Atlas locos were built by Roco and Kato - in more recent times these high quality products from Atlas often come from Kader factories, better known to most of you as Bachmann.
And nearly all Atlas locos have been exceptional products…
I don’t own any myself, but sold hundreds of them in the early yellow box days when I ran the train department in a hobby shop.
Atlas, especially in the last 15-20 years, has had a limited selection in my era (1954), limited availability, especially of my desired undecorated models, and was an early adopter of the preorder business model.
So I have found all the models I want, that Atlas could have supplied, from other makers, because I’m not always much for searching or waiting.
But again, they are generally very well made and excellent runners.
Sheldon
Not all yellow/white box Atlas engines were Kato powered, here is what was: Alco RS1, RS3, RSD4/5, RS11, RSD12, Century 424 and 425, EMD GP7/9. The rest of the line had Roco drives, which were smooth but had a growl to them when they ran. At that point, Kato went out on their own. Kato also did the drives in the earlier Stewart F series diesels for awhile. Easy to figure out, the trucks have Kato on the bottom of them.
EDIT Looks like it sold for $80, 1 bidder. Larry Puckett in the video below said they go for much more at train shows. Haven’t been to one since C so I don’t know.
This doesn’t add to what has been said, but for those of you who like visuals, Larry Puckett has a video:
Did somebody buy it or did the auction just run out? I didn’t check for sold items. It had 0 bids on it when I looked at it but somebody might have been waiting until the very end to swoop in and grab it at the minimum price. I’ve done that before. I generally don’t like to show my cards too early when I bid on an item.
UPDATE: It was purchased for a Best Offer price. Apparently the buyer waited until the auction was almost over and then bid a discounted price. I’d be curious as to what it sold for but I don’t think ebay tells you that if it isn’t a bid price.